Cthulu Average – Interlude Arc – Chapter 02

Side story 02 – A Certain Sister’s Terror

“Sacred Goddess Sophia-sama is a great personage who created humankind.”

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I was standing at the back of the chapel behind the seats, as part of mass.
Beyond the seats next to the statue of Sacred Goddess-sama was Reverend-sama, who was in the middle of preaching to the people. Right now he was preaching about the reason why we should be thankful to Sacred Goddess-sama, you see.
When Reverend-sama preaches, his voice resounds through the quiet chapel, and it feels like your soul is being cleansed. That’s why I loved mass.

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“Sacred Goddess Sophia-sama is always watching over us.”

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Sacred Goddess Sophia-sama is the esteemed god that created our world, and is a kind and merciful personage who protects we humans from the Evil God that tries to destroy the world.
The Church of Sacred Light sings praise of Her exploits, and exist to convey this to the people. Of course, we do not only teach others, but in accordance to Her will, we are a wonderful organisation that also extends our hands to the needy through food, establishes orphanages, mediates for warring nations, and tries our very best for the sake of peace for humankind.
My family was poor, and so we struggled to feed ourselves each day, but the Church of Sacred Light saved us. Because I wanted to save somebody else, the same way that I was saved, I joined the Church as a nun.

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“Sacred Goddess Sophia-sama loves we humans, and protects us from evil.”

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Although the church in Riemel is not very large, as a town close to the Demon Territory, we’re seen as the last stronghold against the demons. Because of that, apparently an archbishop even came all the way here when this church was being built, and along with a number of people, they laid down a complicated barrier for us. Even a normal church wards off evil through the power of Her blessing, but this church is protected with a particularly strong power. Even if by some chance our town was in danger due to an invasion from the Demon Territory, this church wouldn’t be so easily invaded. When Reverend-sama told me this, I felt incredibly reassured.

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“Please thank Sacred Goddess Sophia-sama for her compassion, and send her your prayers.”

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With Reverend-sama’s words, the people all brought their hands together in prayer. Still standing there, I was about to close my eyes and pray with them────

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────When at that moment, a -bang- resounded within the chapel as it shook.

No, it wasn’t the building or the floor that shook. With a sound, it was the space itself that shook. A clamour spread through the people due to the sudden shock.

“Everybody, please calm down!”

Reverend-sama tried to stop everybody, but he couldn’t get them to calm down. I didn’t understand what happened, but I decided to follow his example and decided to try and calm everybody down.
However, at that moment, I noticed something behind me and so I turned around. And when I did, an abnormal scene unfolded before me.

The church is always open so that anybody can enter at any time, and the door is left open even during mass. Because of that, because I was standing at the back of the chapel, when I turned around I could see what was happening beyond the door. It was the scenery outside that was abnormal; of all things, the scenery was cracked. Beyond the crack was your everyday Riemel, but because that townscape was the same as ever, it made the crack ever more strange.
I was dumbfounded by the scene’s sudden change to another realm, but before long, it became clear to me that there was a crack in something transparent that covered the church. Perhaps because they noticed my behaviour, Reverend-sama included, everybody in the church turned their eyes outside.

Something covering the church?
It couldn’t be the protective barrier that Reverend-sama spoke of, could it? …No, but in that case, why was it cracked!?

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My eyes were held captive by the crack in space, but eventually I noticed that beyond it was somebody standing there in a black robe. The crack coincidentally covered their face, but they seemed to be a girl in her teens. The girl was standing right in front of the crack. I was about to call out in warning, “It’s dangerous there, please stay away!”, but before I had the chance to, the girl raised her right hand and softly touched the crack before my eyes.

It was the next instant. That crack spread out all at once, until I could see nothing but, and with a -pan- sound, ‘something’ immediately shattered and vanished.

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Eh-?
I-, It can’t be… The protective barrier that the archbishop set was-!?
Although I was dumb from disbelief, I could certainly feel it disappearing; the aura of sacredness that had been always present.

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And because the crack was now gone, the face under the robe was now visible to me.
The moment our eyes met, it felt like I was being strangled by some feeling of oppression, and I found myself unable to breathe.
It wasn’t only me. Reverend-sama and everybody else behind me stood frozen, unable to even speak.
The thing that looked like a girl glared at everybody in the church in silence────

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────Before curving its lips into a sneer, and turning to leave after muttering something.

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Because the thing that looked like a girl had walked away, we could finally breathe again. The emotional strain on everybody was huge, and everybody sank to the ground in exhaustion.
Because there was no way to continue the mass like this, we stopped it and instead immediately made warm soup for everyone. Honestly speaking, I felt like I was going to collapse myself, but I needed to prepare the soup.

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Although its face was beautiful, there’s no doubt that it was a retainer of the Evil God.
…No, since it so easily destroyed the archbishop’s barrier, I’m sure that it was the Evil God itself.
That it left after doing nothing but destroying the barrier was surely a malicious announcement that it could attack at any time. The Evil God’s ghastly smile had told me so.
I couldn’t hear what the Evil God muttered at the end, but it was surely some horrifying curse.
Just what will happen to this world, and what will happen to us?

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Aahh, Sacred Goddess Sophia-sama.
Please deliver us from evil.

TL: I actually had a lot of trouble with this. I really hated writing ‘Reverend-sama’, but calling him ‘the reverend’ doesn’t give the sense that she knows him well (as a member of the same church). At the same time, no name was given, so I couldn’t replace ‘shimpu-sama’ with ‘Father ____’ either. In the end I resorted to the awkward sounding ‘Reverend-sama’, but I still feel it was the best choice, so please forgive me.

Incidentally, why bother ctrl+f replacing ‘blank’ with code in html viewer, when I can just ctrl+f * for all instances of formatting (bold or white or italics) instead. To begin with, the html looks like a steaming pile of shit, and what’s more, I do all my translating in notepad, so I’d be ctrl+f-ing for everything but the blanks anyway.

Sometimes people will highlight things if they have vision problems, and people will mess around with style converters for the same reason. But you’re doing this for free, so they’ll just have to do a mental workaround or regain their vision or something.

Thanks for your Translation.
So these were where the ones you wanted to retranslate. I thought you were dissatisfied with some of your translation in Arc 1. I totally forgot that the Interludes weren’t done by yourself. Makes more sense to me now that you want to retranslate them, since the other chapters looked fine.

And is that “loves/protects we humans” some weird formal way of speaking or a mistake on your part? I’m not native, but I thought it should be “us”.

Also: “we are a wonderful organisation that also extend our hands to the needy through food, establish orphanages, mediate for warring nations, and try our very best for the sake of peace for humankind.” we are a organisation that – seems to be switching to 3rd p. Sg. since they are now talking about the organisation, so the “our” should be “its” and the verbs need the 3rd person “s”.

If thats wrong than sorry for annoying you in advance and I’m gonna search a hole to bury myself in shame.

Actually, I think all of your pronoun stuff is wrong, but I already explained grammar stuff more times than I can endure in one day, so please consider posting our comments on Quora.com/topic/Pronouns or english.Stackexchange.com if you want to prove I’m right.

Translator #2

When not swimming with polar bears or sleeping in an igloo, likes to stare at incomprehensible moon runes believing them to be messages from the ancestors. Until the caribou meat runs out. Was promoted to Deputy? Arbiter by a wandering Sheeprabbit on a hunt one day and brought to a place named after some person called Chan, Onii.

Translator #3

Translator #4

Hey everyone, I'm Kou-san and I translate stuff.
I hopped on board because my social life was dying and I needed something to keep me from descending into darker chuuni pits. Now, back to learning how to run on water...

Translator #8

Hello, Kudarajin de~su! I'm just a student passing by, translating stuff! Started this since there was a series I really liked that I wanted to share with everyone. I'm trying to share the joy I feel when I read web novels with more people around the world! Now that my self-introduction is over, back to my glorious plan to turn everyone in the world into bookworms...

Translator #9

Graphical Editor #1

Graphical Editor #2

It was a dark and stormy night...the little slug, abandoned by all of it's friends, moved onwards. It undertook a hard and unwelcome journey. The ground was slippery cobblestone, all sunny-gleam and glass-sharp marble gluing the jagged edges together to resemble something beautiful. Walking upon the path would have hurt the slug, considering all the jagged pebbles knocked aside to and fro that it had to crawl over, if not for the water that fell from the sky and aided the slug's way to a place of suitable shells. And on the slug continued on this path, a little nervous but a lot determined, until two long shadows coalesced and stood in its way. "Slug! It's a slimy slug!" one crowed mockingly, laughing cruelly along with other shadows in a discordant symphony as they loomed over the slug, dark and threatening. "I'm not a slug!" it said in response, even as it flinched back. "I am a snail, like the rest of the snails. I just have no shell." The shadows did not seem to hear, and they surrounded the slug, holding sticks and tossing it around. "Stop!" the slug cried, but they did not stop. The rain spilled over the slug, until it didn't, and the slug lay helpless on the side of the streets, unmoving. There were many voices, screeching their victory as they walked into the distance, and the slug was bitterly reminded of the insults its siblings had told it. It did not resist as it was kicked harshly by a passing object and thrown into the air, landing on its soft underside so quickly it faded into unconsciousness, prone and helpless to any that wanted to eat it. It sadly thought that, perhaps, its siblings had been right. However, the slug did not die. It came to, after a long, long time, to see a large, patterned rock. "...Hello?" the slug whispered mutely, voice weak and barely audible, not expecting an answer. But surprisingly, the rock moved, revealing a wisened head that craned over to look at the slug. "Hello," it greeted calmly, "What are you? I have not seen any like you before." The slug took a long moment to comprehend its words, and even then, it felt floored. Someone who had not heard of slugs at all? "I...am a snail, who has no shell, seeking a place of suitable shells that will fit me, like the shells in the place of suitable shells near my home that fit my kin." "Is that so?" the other asked. "I cannot understand, for this shell of mine has been mine ever since my birth. I can, however, understand the need for a shell to watch your back and hide you away from the world, if that is why you wish for a shell." "It is," the slug replied. "It must be a joy to you, to have a shell crafted for you for your lifetime." "But I cannot choose another," the other answered, "While you can." It was a long, quiet moment of contemplation before the other spoke again. "Do you think this shell of mine is good?" The slug was startled, but it answered willingly enough. "Yes." "Do you think this shell of mine is strong?" "Yes," the slug answered, this time a lot more slowly, bemused. The other gave a tiny, weak smile. "Do you think this shell of mine is suitable?" The slug did not hesitate. "Yes," it said, and it could not have said anything more profound. "What are you?" the slug finally queried. "I am a turtle." And the turtle smiled wider, kindly. It may have been just a feeling. It may have been just a thought. But the turtle also said these very words: "You are a snail with a shell." And even though the turtle's shell was all lines and edges and angles, and the shells of the snail's brethren were all curls and swirls wrapping itself into rings of promise, the slug was a snail with a shell, and that was all that mattered.